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I couldn’t have been more than 3 years old, but I remember looking up at my dad from the floorboard below the passenger seat of his 1968 Mercury Cougar. All I knew back then was that the car went fast, was loud and made my dad happy.

I don’t know if I fell off the passenger seat or if my dad had me ride down there on purpose, but I remember laughing and loving every minute of it.

Unfortunately, I never got to fully appreciate the car, because my mom “suggested” that my dad sell it so they could have a more comfortable and practical family vehicle.

That’s a shame, because that ’68 had a 428-cubic-inch 390-hp 4-barrel V8, which certainly explains my inability to stay still on the floor or planted in the seat.

It’s also why the 1968 Cougar is the American classic I’d buy right now if I could.

As immature, childish ways for men to compensate for certain shortcomings or as ferociously fun vehicles designed to take a beating.

I prefer to think of American muscle as falling into the latter category, though I won’t deny the possibility of the former. However you view muscle cars, you just can’t deny that for over 45 years they have invoked a passion unmatched by any other category of automobile.

And now, as a quick summary of the last four decades, I present my list of the 10 best muscle cars ever. Here they are, in model-year order: